Three local men — Wes Hawkins, 46, Danny Nichols, 24, and his father, Clancy Nichols, 51 — remain missing. Donations are being accepted for the families.

The men had gone to the area Sunday afternoon to determine why irrigation water had stopped flowing to several ranches in the Salt Creek drainage area east of Collbran. The search for them on the slide was halted Tuesday because the area remains unstable.

"The Declaration of Emergency is being done so that the proper resources can be gathered from the State of Colorado and the federal government," county administrator Tom Fisher said in a news release. "It will allow Mesa County, the local residents and Forest Service to properly assess the ongoing risk to life and property in the area. This Declaration is largely being done to assess risk, since we don't have the expertise or the jurisdiction to fully support the assessment."

The governor's office is working with the county on the disaster declaration, according to Roxane White, who is Gov. John Hickenlooper's chief of staff. She said the governor is also trying to get an aerial magnetometer donated to help in the search.

Denver Post reporter Lynn Bartels contributed to this report.

David Krause: 303-954-1893, dkrause@denverpost.com or twitter.com/DavidKrause